


More Than Just a Cosplayer’s Dream?

by EachPeachPearPlum, Fighting_for_Creativity



Category: Marvel
Genre: Cosplay, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Lack of Communication, M/M, Mention of the team, Pining, Tabloids, Team as Family, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has Issues, background pairing Mary/Richard, mentions of a past temporary magical involuntary genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24840217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EachPeachPearPlum/pseuds/EachPeachPearPlum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fighting_for_Creativity/pseuds/Fighting_for_Creativity
Summary: Fans of New York’s very own Avengers have spent three years dressing up as their favorite heroes, but few do it with the enthusiasm of this charming couple, pictured together yesterday in front of Avengers Tower.Longtime Captain America fan Robert Palmer and new wife Marlene were dressed to the nines for NYC’s inaugural HeroCon, and couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to stop off at Hero HQ. Their costumes caught everyone’s attention, but that was nothing compared to the reaction to this passionate kiss.But – rumor has it that a romance between role model Captain America and bad boy Tony Stark might actually be more than the fevered dreams of hardcore fans like these! A source close to the Avengers told this reporter that tensions are running high between Cap and Stark… SEXUAL tension, that is!”They can barely keep their eyes off each other,” said… (cont. pp2-4)Or: after cosplayers dressed as him and Steve kiss in front of the Tower, Tony goes to great lengths to keep Steve from finding out. If only he’d known he didn’t have to…
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68
Collections: Peach’s TSB 2020 works, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	More Than Just a Cosplayer’s Dream?

**Author's Note:**

> _J_ : It was lots of fun to write this with Peach. I loved how we took that idea and ran with it, despite not knowing if we were heading towards a wall or open field.
> 
> _P_ : the idea for this was all J, but when I adopted the 3490 square at the last TSB party she was kind enough to share her sandbox with me. Writing it was a blast, and I hope you all have just as much joy reading it x
> 
> \---  
> This fic crosses off squares for both EachPeachPearPlum's and Fighting_for_Creativity's **TSB**.
> 
> **Title** : More Than Just a Cosplayer’s Dream?  
>  **Collaborators** : EachPeachPearPlum and Fighting_for_Creativity (J_Gun_i)  
>  **Card Numbers** : 3027 (Peach), 3113 (J)  
>  **Link** : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24840217  
>  **Square Filled** : T4 GRRR 3490 Kiss (for J_Gun_I ) and **adopted** GRRR 3490 Kiss (EachPeachPearPlum)  
>  **Ship** : Steve/Tony  
>  **Rating** : Teen and above  
>  **Major Tags** : Fluff and Humor, Lack of Communication, Idiots in Love, Tony's questionable planning skills  
>  **Summary** : After cosplayers dressed as him and Steve kiss in front of the Tower, Tony goes to great lengths to keep Steve from finding out. If only he’d known he didn’t have to…  
>  **Word Count** : 6196

“Sir,” JARVIS interrupts. “You may recall instructing me to monitor all images of the Avengers appearing online.”

Tony doesn’t put aside his project, a lightweight bulletproof fabric he’s working on for the teams’ uniforms, because he is more than capable of carrying out a conversation as he works. And eats, and sleeps, and just about everything else he does; if there’s one thing everyone knows about Tony Stark, it’s that he can _talk_. “Yeah, I remember,” he says, which is obviously the response JARVIS is expecting, he’s just being extra British about bringing whatever it is he’s found to Tony’s attention. “What of it?”

“I have found something that may be of interest, Sir,” JARVIS tells him, then falls silent, which is weird.

This is a long way from the first time J has presented him with something he’s found about the team, and he’s never wasted time warning Tony first. More often than not, he just chucks whatever it is he’s come across up on the closest screen, whether it’s Clint caught on camera flying low, Thor making friends with pigeons in Central Park (he can understand them, apparently, though whenever they’ve asked him to translate Thor just laughed, so Tony’s pretty sure he gets to call bullshit on that one), or Bruce getting his geek on in the botanical gardens (there’s a faction of the internet that seems to find this incredibly photo-worthy, not that Tony knows why, though he’s always happy to retweet photos of Bruce beaming at dandelions or whatever).

JARVIS is still silent, though, so Tony hits save (the fact that he built these systems and knows his auto save function is absolutely goddamn perfectly just isn’t enough to break decades of automatically hitting ctrl-S every half hour) and puts his blueprints aside.

“Hit me, J,” he instructs.

The image that pops up in the air in front of him is very much not what Tony was expecting. Not that he could actually have told anyone what he _was_ expecting, just that it’s not this.

If he was to be completely honest, Tony might confess to having daydreamed about kissing Steve. Hell, he’s daydreamed about a whole lot more than just kissing him – hot, sweaty, really damn exciting daydreams – but, really, he’d be far happier for people to know he’s been jerking off to fantasies about Steve than know about the softer, sweeter daydreams. Just about anyone who's even the slightest bit attracted to men has fantasised about screwing Steve, so there’s fuck all to be ashamed of there, but the kissing daydreams?

Tony’s imagined kissing Steve in private, in one of their bedrooms in the Tower. He’s thought about them kissing after a mission, both of them thrumming with _oh god we’re alive we’re alive we’re alive_ delight. He’s wondered what it would be like to be together, to have Steve peck him on the cheek when he passes him his first cup of coffee at breakfast or on the top of his head as they’re drifting off to sleep at night. He’s pictured the two of them going out to dinner and getting snapped by the paparazzi, photos of the two of them kissing by candlelight on the front cover of every single paper in existence.

Before today, Tony would have thought he’d fantasised about kissing Steve in just about every way possible, but at no point has he ever imagined it might look like the photo in front of him now.

“That’s not actually me, right?” he asks JARVIS, because amnesia and unexpected magical transformations are things that have happened to either him or his teammates over the last few years, and there’s no logical reason they couldn’t both happen at the same time.

Tony doesn’t give a shit if he’s forgotten having his dick magicked away (hell, if that has or ever will happen, Tony thinks amnesia is definitely the way to go), but he is going to be epically pissed off if he got to make out with Steve and can’t remember it.

“It is not, sir,” JARVIS confirms.

Tony breathes a metaphorical sigh of relief, though it’s cut short when another terrible thought occurs to him. “Evil girl twin Mom and Howard never told me about?”

“I haven’t yet had the opportunity to analyse a DNA sample.” JARVIS’ tone is as bland as it always is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not also dripping with snark. “If you would like to send a team out to take a cheek swab, I can begin comparisons to detect common parentage. However, all psychological tests I have managed to find for ‘evil’ reflect somewhat unfavourably upon yourself.”

Tony shoots a murderous glare at the closest camera (which, he has to admit, probably isn’t helping his case any). “Ha ha,” he says flatly. “If you’re done with mocking my perfectly reasonable concerns, how about you explain what’s actually going on here?”

“This photo was taken outside the Tower a matter of minutes ago,” JARVIS tells him. “I believe the couple pictured are newlyweds, who chose to celebrate the occasion by creating their own costumes. My scans indicate that, while the visible similarities between your suits and this replica are impressive, the armour pictured is purely decorative, lacking any of the weapons capabilities your own suit has.”

“Well, yeah, I figure you’d have led with _attack of the cosplayers_ if that was something we needed to worry about, rather than letting me freak out about maybe forgetting having made out with Ca- Shit. Has Steve seen this yet?”

There’s a brief pause before JARVIS answers, but since his response is the reassurance Tony needs he’s not going to question it. “No device belonging to any of the Avengers has accessed any of the sites hosting images of the couple.”

“Okay,” Tony says, relieved. “Okay, so, you’re gonna block anyone who might show it to Steve from accessing it. Keep him from seeing it on the news, let me know if he’s about to do anything that might result in him knowing about this, help me make sure he doesn’t find out, alright?”

The silence this time is longer, and Tony’s pretty sure JARVIS is judging him.

“To clarify, Sir, you are asking me to restrict Captain Rogers’ access to information.”

Yeah, that right there is a whole load of judgement, and it’s completely unju- fine, it’s maybe a little justified, because what Tony’s asking is getting just a bit too close to censorship and that’s definitely a not good thing, but it’s also a matter of self-preservation. If Steve sees this couple dressed up as the pair of them making out, he’ll want to talk about it, hear Tony’s opinion, have a deep and meaningful conversation, and Tony so isn’t prepared for that. He doesn’t want to talk about his feelings about the photo, because that’s a short, slippery slope to talking about his feelings about other things, Steve-shaped things, and there’s no way in hell that’s a conversation that’ll end any way other than awful.

And that, Steve seeing the photo and being comfortable enough with it to want to hear what Tony thinks about it, is the best case scenario, the one Tony should be hoping for. Isn’t it more likely that Steve’ll see it and freak out, be somewhere between uncomfortable and completely grossed out that people think about the two of them like that? Tony’s seen enough of Steve’s interactions with the twenty-first century to know he doesn’t have a problem with other people being in same-sex relationships, but that doesn’t mean he’d be okay with people thinking about him being in a same-sex relationship, and even if he was it definitely doesn’t mean he’d be okay with people thinking about him being in a relationship with _Tony_.

Tony knows his pretty little daydreams that Steve might reciprocate his feelings are nothing more than that. He doesn’t need Steve’s reaction to the photo reminding him how futile they are.

It’s better for him and for Steve and for everyone who counts on them to be a cohesive unit in the field if Steve never sees this photo, and that’s all there is to it.

“Yes,” he says with a sharp, decisive nod of his head. “This once, I’m telling you to keep Steve from seeing photos of this couple, and you aren’t gonna argue me out of it, you hear me?”

And maybe J sounds frosty and disapproving when he agrees, but he’s agreeing and that’s all that matters.

X

Steve still feels confused when he comes across people dressed up like him or the other Avengers. His first thought is often _oh, that’s weird_ , but ultimately it makes him feel honoured, and inspires him to do his best every single day.

It’s not unusual for there to be a few people in costume outside the tower when Steve gets back from his run, and he often pauses to admire their outfits and sign autographs. Today, there’s two of them, a blond man wearing Steve’s current Captain America uniform, complete with a shield strapped to his back, and a woman in a feminine version of Tony’s armour, but it’s not their outfits that make Steve’s heart stop.

The couple, dressed like he and Tony, are standing on his doorstep kissing passionately, and Steve feels like he’s been punched in the gut.

Not because he’s repulsed by it. It being the thought of he and Tony kissing, being together, being happy with each other. No. Steve feels that way because for a split second he’d thought that those two might be from another dimension, a version of him and Tony from somewhere else, and that there could therefore be a teeny tiny chance of his Tony liking him back. However, when Steve walks closer he identifies the costumes as homemade copies and his heart sinks.

They recognise Steve, of course, and introduce themselves as Richard and Mary Parker, then insist on buying Steve a coffee so enthusiastically that he accepts without thinking about it.

Within a few moments of conversation, it’s clear to Steve how sincerely they love each other, despite the fact that they are on different sides of the so-called Avengers camp. That’s apparently a thing, too, the Avengers camps, though it’s news to Steve that the public have at one point decided to divide the team into two camps.

There was Team Cap, his team, apparently comprised of himself, Natasha, Sam, and Bruce, and there was Team Iron Man, consisting of Tony, Thor, Clint, and sometimes Rhodey. As the couple chatter away, explaining the fandom around the Avengers, Steve can’t help but smile at their excitement and their relationship, the way they slightly correct each other or butt heads. He actually thinks that the two are quite similar to him and Tony.

The super soldier tells them as much, which gets him a smirk from Mary and a genuine smile from Richard. After a few hours, Steve leaves them to go back to the tower, eager to talk about the couple with Tony.

X

Despite what he hoped, Steve doesn’t get a chance to talk to Tony right away. According to JARVIS, Tony is doing suit upgrades and some PR work Pepper is insisting on.

Instead, Steve proceeds to his rooms, getting some of his art utensils and sketching his favourite motif, Tony. Whenever he’s stressed, or bored, or – well, honestly, always, Steve loves to imagine Tony doing this or that, sitting in a board meeting pretending to listen while playing on his phone or in his workshop creating the future. It doesn’t really matter to his mind.

Closing his eyes a bit, he lets the mental image of Tony kissing him translate into every line he draws. He knows he’s overlaying Tony and himself on the scene he had watched earlier. The heated looks shared between Mary and Richard and the soft pecks the couple exchanged regularly turn into Tony looking at Steve, Tony’s breath against Steve’s lips, Tony’s voice coming out as a moan pressed into Steve’s skin, Tony-

_Okay, I need to stop this,_ Steve thinks as he puts down his pencil. The blond glances at the page and immediately blushes. Not only has he drawn Tony bending backwards, Steve himself pressing against him, but he’s also flushed and there’s a sparkle in his eyes that makes him look downright pornographic. Gulping, Steve hurries to close his sketchbook and put it away. After he makes sure to hide it where only he can find it (and isn’t that a hassle, given that he lives in a building with two super spies, two geniuses and a ever present AI) Steve goes upstairs to the common living room.

He knows that Nat and Clint are on a mission away, and Bruce had said something about a conference early in the morning, so Steve assumes he isn’t going to be around either. Sam is visiting his family this week, and Thor is wherever it is the Asgardian goes when he isn’t here, so Steve is pretty sure that he and Tony are the only ones around. A soft smile forms on his face and without really thinking about it Steve says, “JARVIS, please can you put the news on?”

“Certainly, Captain.”

Just as the TV turns on and Steve is about to sit down, the elevator opens and a frantic looking Tony runs towards him, yelling, “Cap!”

Confused and concerned, Steve hovers awkwardly over the couch, directing his full attention at the genius. “Tony?”

Tony skids to a halt in front of the blond, breathing heavily, and Steve forgets all about the TV, straightening up as he turns to the panting genius. When it becomes apparent that Tony isn’t going to get words out any time soon, Steve closes the distance between them and helps guide the brunet onto the couch. He then proceeds to kneel in front of Tony, worry clear on his face and reflected in his eyes.

“Tony, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

A last pant and then Tony sits up straight again. “Yeah, Cap. I’m good. Sorry. I just… I was wondering if you, I mean, you don’t have to, but if you’ve got time we could- Food! That was it! Yes, dinner. Get some stuff to eat. Grab a beer, or not, and watch a movie? It’s movie night. JARVIS set an alarm. Also reminded me like three times. And I’m kinda at a place where my work needs to work on its own, you know?”

Steve has trouble following the stream of words. When he’s sure Tony’s done – for the moment, anyway – Steve smiles softly. The way he rambles is just so _Tony_ that Steve forgets about his worry and can only feel fondness for him. “Sounds great, Tony. I was wondering what to do with the rest of the day, to be honest. Do you want to go out? There’s that hole-in-the-wall diner you said you would show me.”

Steve knows part of the reason he’s asking is because he wants this to be a date and going out will make it so much easier to pretend it really is one, still since he’s the only one who knows that, it doesn’t matter if his motivation is selfish.

Tony seems to be considering Steve’s question – or maybe he’s just in a world of his own again, Steve can never tell – before he shakes his head softly and says, “I was thinking about getting something delivered. I mean, I could ask J- but then we’d have to- and there’s the issue with- so, no, it’s got to be delivery. Sorry, Steve.”

Tony looks disheartened about that, so, even though Steve doesn’t understand a word he’s just said, he just swallows his own disappointment and continues to smile. “No problem, Tony. I know it’s my turn to choose a movie, but you go ahead and pick one while I get the menus.”

Normally, this is where Tony would protest about using paper menus rather than just asking JARVIS for whatever they want, Steve knows that, but apparently the genius is either too tired or preoccupied with something else. Steve shrugs before leaving for the kitchen, and when he gets back with the menus the TV is showing the intro of a movie called _Wreck it Ralph_.

_Sometimes his movie choices are strange…_ he thinks before sitting next to Tony. For the next few minutes, they bicker about where to order from, until – as usual – they settle on different places and order from them both.

As they eat and watch the film, Steve can’t help feeling how intimate it is between them. How they click and work and... Steve just wants them to have a chance.

X

After the movie, Tony feels peaceful enough to get a few hours of sleep. Still, it doesn’t last long before he gets up again, his dreams filled with cosplayers and the concept of cosplay. Why people, especially the female population, like to dress up as him is beyond him.

Sure, he gets the whole hero worship thing, but there are way better options, like the Black Widow. Or even a female replica of Cap’s suit, after that one mission where they went in with Steve Rogers and came back with a version of him that the media insisted on calling Stephanie for a short while. Although Steve had taken it in his stride and put up with the temporary change with as much grace as possible, Tony couldn’t deny that is was safer for his own bisexual heart when Cap returned to his original body. Not that he was more attracted to Steve when he had breasts, but their usual banter had sounded so much more… sexual, and there were only so many cold showers a man could take.

Anyway, after spending half the night researching cosplay, Tony almost feels like he actually has a plan for breaking the kiss to Steve when he hears his stomach complaining about the lack of food. Confused – he's pretty sure it's not late enough for him to be hungry yet –, his eyes flick towards the closest time display and his eyebrows shoot up. _Ugh. It might not be breakfast time yet, but it should definitely be later than six am! I’ve been sitting here for hours! And, I can’t go to the kitchen yet because Steve is going to-_

“Because Steve’ll go for his run soon, and he’s almost certainly going to see the headlines! I need to get in the kitchen before he sees anything” Tony scrambles out of his bedroom towards the elevator. “J, make sure there’s no news displays about the cosplayers on Steve’s running route! I need to break the news to him before he finds out!”

“Sir, are you-”

“Don’t question me, just do it.”

Tony knows his AI well enough to interpret the following silence as judgemental, just like yesterday. Still, he’s secure in the knowledge that JARVIS will do as he’s told. Tony feels awful for having to order him to do it, even more so because he’s doing it for the second time in as many days, but that guilt is just something he’s going to have to live with.

X

Tony storms into the kitchen, even though he’s still rather tired and probably stumbles more than he storms, but it’s not like there’ll be anyone there to judge him.

Except Steve is sitting at the kitchen isle, idly drinking orange juice and staring off into the distance. He seems unaware of Tony’s arrival. For a moment, the genius is concerned about whatever is preoccupying his friend, but it’s temporarily forgotten when he smells the wonderful aroma of his favourite coffee blend.

A quick glance towards the coffeemaker confirms that someone _– and be honest, Tony, you know who did this for you- stop being a traitor, you stupid-!_ – has made him a whole carafe of lifesaving bitter ambrosia. With practiced ease, Tony fills his favourite mug (and damn Steve for setting that up as well) with his beloved addiction and takes a gulp.

Despite it being as hot as it can get, Tony drinks most of his first mug in one gulp. Only after he refills does he turn back to Steve.

For a moment, Tony thinks the expression on Steve’s face is something close to besotted, but that’s most likely just his still under-caffeinated and wishful mind. He’s about to say good morning when his gaze lands on the newspaper on the counter. The very newspaper Steve is reaching for, the headline clearly reading _**Iron Man and Captain America: more than just a cosplayers dream?**_

_**** _

_God, how could I have forgotten analogue media? Stupid! So, so stupid,_ Tony curses himself, desperately trying to think of something which will distract Steve long enough that the blond won’t read the newspaper. Ever.

Tony Stark is a genius, everyone and their mother knows him to be one of the smartest people on the planet, so obviously all his ideas are as brilliant and amazing as he is. This does not explain why his brain glitches and the only thing he can come up with is, “Cap, how about we spar!”

He winces inwardly as soon as those words leave him. The arched brow on his friend’s face doesn’t help.

Tony knows Steve doesn’t mean to sound suspicious and judgemental when he says, “That’s… kind of unexpected, Tony. I’d like to, sure.”

The unspoken ‘but’ is very loud, in Tony’s opinion. Despite knowing better, Tony snaps, “But what, Cap? Can’t a guy spar with another guy?”

“Sure we can, Tony. It’s just you never do.” Steve’s voice is gentle when he answers, and Tony can see the furrowed brow and the wrinkles of worry attaching themselves to Steve’s clear, blue, wonderful eyes. Because Tony’s gaze is fixed on the blond, he sees Steve’s hand reaching for him. And because he sees it but is hopelessly in lo- likes the blond, Tony leans forward, just enough for Steve’s hand to brush against his arm.

“Are you okay, Tony?” The words are so soft, so laced with worry that, for a short moment, Tony’s heart flutters, and he needs to get a grip on himself before he blurts out something he shouldn’t.

Because, for that short moment, Tony can almost believe that there’s something more to those words. For a moment, Tony is tempted to just let Steve in, into his mind, into his heart, into his soul. Let Steve see every tiny bit of him, and confess his feelings for the blond. For just the smallest moment, the warmth radiating from Steve’s hand alone and the tenderness of those words lulls him in.

But he can’t give in. He can’t. Not because he thinks Steve will hate him for it – or he won’t hate him for long, at least – but because they’re teammates and can’t afford to screw up whatever relationship they have. In the end, it all comes down to Tony and Steve being Avengers, the first and last line of defence against whatever the universe holds. So, instead of answering right away, he takes a sip of his coffee, buying himself time.

After another second or two, Tony feels it’s safe to respond. “Yeah, Cap. I’m good. Just thought maybe I needed some physical exercise other than hauling heavy metal through my workshop.”

The relief flowing through the blond is palpable even to the genius. Steve smiles at Tony with so much earnest joy that Tony’s heart skips another beat. “That’s a good idea, Tony! Let’s go to the gym.”

X

Sparring with Tony is… something else. Steve regularly spars with all of the Avengers apart from Bruce. Each one of them has a unique style which impressed or fascinated Steve from the get go.

Tony mostly fights against him with his suit on, despite all of Steve’s attempts to get him to train without it. Most of the time, he thinks it’s a good idea for Tony to practice hand to hand fighting, in case a villain ever separates him from his suit, and, theoretically, it is.

Steve’s forgotten one tiny detail. He needs to touch Tony when they’re sparring, and a lot of the time it ends with one of them sitting on the other’s lap and pinning him down (mostly Steve pinning Tony). Sparring with Tony leads to erratic breathing, sweat-slicked bodies, and way too much adrenaline in Steve’s bloodstream.

Steve comes close to kissing Tony more than once, and that’s a terrifying idea. Especially since most of the time when Steve pins him, Tony looks dazed, like he’ll take whatever Steve gives him. It gives Steve all kinds of mental images, ones that result in him needing to take the coldest shower in the history of cold showers.

And even then, he’s still thinking about Tony pinned to the mat beneath him, Tony looking up at him like he wants- No. Groaning, Steve turns the water even colder and nearly jumps out of his skin. It’s best to just scrub himself clean, quit fantasising about a friend he’ll never get to love, and get back to the communal area as soon as possible.

X

Leaving Steve unsupervised long enough for them both to take a shower was a mistake, Tony realises very quickly. Not that supervising Steve in the shower would have been any better, since that’s either awkward and weird and uncomfortable if Steve’s aware of the supervision or just fucking creepy if Steve doesn’t know about it, so no, supervised showers are an undeniably awful idea, definitely not happening, but that doesn’t mean Tony shouldn’t have thought of _something_.

Because while Tony tends towards spending long enough in the shower to actually clean up and maybe relax a little, if the occasion calls for it, either the Depression or the army has taught Steve to be in and out of the shower in as little as two minutes, and Tony completely forgets about this until he gets back to the team floor and finds Steve already there.

Steve, sitting in his favourite spot on the couch, reading the goddamn paper Tony had temporarily forgotten about.

_Fuck_. _Fucking fuckety fuck_.

No. It’s okay. It’s fine. Steve always goes straight to the sports pages at the back, doesn’t even glance at the actual news until after he’s read through that stuff, so maybe he’s not looked at the headline yet, not read all the crap the reporters are saying about that couple and how it might relate to him and Steve, not seen the picture.

Please, God, let him not have seen the picture yet.

“Hi, Tony,” Steve says, jolting Tony out of his panic with uncomfortable suddenness. “Good shower?”

Tony shrugs, trying very hard to ignore the weirdness of that question, and then freezes again as Steve closes the paper and folds it in half, photo-side up.

“Um,” Tony manages, and up until now he didn’t even realise his voice could sound that shaky on a monosyllabic non-word. “Guess you’ve seen the news, then.”

“This?” Steve brandishes the paper, smiling a soft and seemingly entirely genuine smile. “Yeah. You knew about it already?”

“JARVIS showed me it, yeah.” Tony’s pretty sure he should add something more there, but he can’t think of anything that doesn’t express an opinion at all. He’s read the story alongside the photo, and it’s absolute crap, some idiot’s idiotic daydreams and a probably fictional source talking about how Steve and Tony can’t stop making googoo eyes at each other, but there’s no way he can say that. Either it’ll come out sounding like he finds the idea of him and Steve completely repugnant (which couldn’t be further from the truth) or he’ll wind up pointing out that Steve clearly can’t be making eyes at him because he would definitely have noticed Steve looking back when Tony was looking at him. “It’s…”

Steve’s still smiling as he says, “It is, yeah,” like he’s interpreting Tony’s unfinished sentence as something other than completely freaking useless. “Did JARVIS tell you I met them?”

Tony’s brain stalls at that, because what the actual fuck? J knows full well that Tony didn’t want Steve to know about this, has followed Tony’s instructions to prevent Steve from learning about it to the absolute letter, and has apparently completely failed to mention that Tony was making a tit of himself for no fucking reason, the bastard.

“No,” he says slowly, taking Steve’s preoccupation with the tabloid cover as an opportunity to glare at the ceiling. “Somehow, he failed to mention that.”

Steve is smiling softly as he answers, babbling in a way that makes it clear he’s been thinking about this since yesterday. “They were in front of the tower – I think they said they’d been at a convention somewhere around here, though I didn’t know there was one this time of year. Anyway. For a moment, I thought they were an alternate dimension’s version of us, or maybe some kind of actors, but… I don’t even know how it happened, but somehow we got to talking with each other. They’ve been together for over eight years, finally decided to get married, and thought why not do it while supporting their ‘ship’. Because apparently there are people, our fans, who see chemistry between different members of the team, including you and me. They call it Stony.”

He chuckles for a moment before he continues, voice coloured with both excitement and something akin to shyness. “Or IronShield, sometimes. The ‘St’ is from Steve and ‘ony’ from your name? I’m still a bit confused. Anyway, they said people are talking and writing stories, speculating about us, and a lot of those stories are about how we got together or how we all live like a happy family. It’s…”

Steve shrugs, his surprisingly long speech falling quiet for a moment, then finishes with, “…I don’t know, the whole thing was kind of sweet.”

Tony allows his mouth to hang open for a second, then forces it shut. “Sweet,” he echoes, entirely lacking inflection as he tries to compute why that might be Steve’s reaction. “Really?”

Steve shrugs, then nods. “Really.”

It’s the way he says it that’s most surprising, Tony thinks. Like it’s obvious, like no other word could possibly apply to it, and it’s so far from any of the disastrous reactions Tony anticipated that he struggles to wrap his mind around it.

_Oh, Tony,_ his mom said to him once, _when are you going to learn to stop pushing?_

Tony can’t remember how old he was at the time, or which of his many fights with Howard it was prompted by, but his mom sure would be disappointed in him if she was here now because Tony has very definitely not learned to stop pushing his luck yet. “You didn’t think it was weird or gross or… something else?”

“No!” Steve says instantly, then offers Tony a slightly sheepish smile. “Well, people dressing up as us is a bit strange, but it’s not hurting anyone so if it makes them happy then why the heck shouldn’t they? Besides, it’s kind of… flattering, I guess. That they admire us that much.”

He’s so earnestly _Steve_ about it that Tony can’t help smiling back at him, even if his take on things is so radical and foreign that it takes a moment for Tony to follow his reasoning. Sure, he’s had a hell of a lot longer than Steve to adjust to the whole cosplayer thing, to being someone the world wants to imitate, but… Well, Tony Stark is rich and brilliant and handsome ( _and modest?_ he imagines Pepper asking); he’s used to people wanting to be (or, you know, kill) him out of envy, but the idea that he’s also someone worthy of genuine admiration is a little harder to wrap his brain around.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, maybe it is…”

There’s a pause in the conversation, the natural kind. Not the quiet that happens when the person he’s talking to wants to say something but hasn’t worked out how best to phrase it in order to get a serious response (and Tony is very used to that kind of quiet, given his near inability to take things seriously), and it’s sort of nice. Or it is for the first few seconds, anyway, which is as long as Tony can handle silence without getting fidgety and awkward and either shouting for JARVIS to stick some music on or giving voice to every single thought that passes through his head.

Unfortunately, Steve’s taste in music has yet to join him in the 21st century (hell, it’s only just made it into the second half of the 20th century), so that option is out, and Tony has no idea what he’s about to say before he starts talking.

“Of course, the story” – he nods at the paper Steve’s still holding – “is absolute bullshit, and I’m 97.8% sure their source is completely bogus, but I’ve got JARVIS checking just in case, and in the highly unlikely event he finds someone I’m going to make their life hell. That reporter is shameless, writing all that crap about you having feelings for me.”

A fraction of a second passes in silence, and then Steve lets out a brief, slightly uneasy laugh. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s pretty bold of them, yeah.”

“Yeah,” Tony echoes, hoping his own laugh comes out actually amused rather than just wistful. “Paragon of virtue Steve Rogers having feelings for king of moral turpitude Tony Stark? How gullible does someone have to be to believe that?”

“No more than they’d have to be to think the worldly, exciting Tony Stark might be interested in boring old Steve Rogers,” Steve says.

“You’re not boring!” Tony exclaims, and it’s much too quick and much too emphatic, so absolutely, horribly obvious that he didn’t think at all before speaking. “And _worldly_ is just a polite way of saying _slut_ , anyway,” he continues, which is sort of better, though Steve looks like he’s about to protest and that’s definitely not happening. “No, I know that’s not what you meant, you don’t have to argue with me about it.”

Steve is still wearing his most stubborn expression, the one that always results in the kind of argument that doesn’t end until whoever he’s talking to gives up, and Tony’s too busy trying to head him off at the pass to actually consider how he’s doing it. “Whatever, point is, you’re amazing, Steve, one of the best people I’ve ever met, seriously, anyone on earth would be lucky to date you. You’re one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met, and if I thought there was even a chance you’d say yes I’d have asked you to have dinner with me ages ago, but we’re friends and we work together and I’d never want you to feel uncomfortable-”

Tony’s first coherent thought is, embarrassingly, _oh thank God I’ve stopped talking, that was_ awful.

His second thought takes a lot longer to come through, though the delay is explained by the thought itself: _Steve is kissing me_.

Steve is kissing him. Steve.

His brain is slow to get back to work again, its usual hyperactivity drowned out by Steve’s lips moving against his, Steve’s calloused palm gentle against his cheek, his hot breath mingling with Tony’s. No first kiss is ever perfect, but it’s real and good and Tony still hasn’t managed to fully process the fact that it’s happening but he does know that he never wants it to stop.

It does, though, because apparently Steve’s thought processes are still working well enough for him to remember the importance of breathing; he pulls back, and Tony finds himself going up on tiptoe in order to follow him.

“Oh,” he murmurs into the space between them, which completely fails to do justice to the delight bubbling up inside him.

Steve smiles, his thumb brushing gently along Tony’s cheekbone. “I’m not uncomfortable,” he says simply.

“Yeah, I’m getting that,” Tony answers, letting out a small, startled laugh.

“And I definitely have feelings for you,” Steve continues, ignoring Tony’s words entirely.

It’s probably the first time Tony doesn’t give a damn about something he’s said going unacknowledged, but the part of his mind usually reserved for indignation is much too busy doing a giddy little _he has feelings for me_ dance. “Yeah, I got that too,” he says, grinning up at Steve. “So, if I asked-”

“I would love to have dinner with you,” Steve cuts in, and that’s absolutely what Tony was going to ask and exactly what he wanted to hear in response but if Steve can’t wait for him to get the invitation out then Tony’s not going to accept his acceptance without teasing him a little bit.

“I mean, I was actually going to ask if I could kiss you again, but I suppose we could do dinner inst-”

Steve shutting him up with a kiss is clearly going to be a regular occurrence, and Tony has no complaints about that at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Find us on tumblr at [dreaminglypeach](https://dreaminglypeach.tumblr.com/) and [fightingforcreativity](https://fightingforcreativity.tumblr.com/).


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